


I'm Not Your Manager

by RutabagaBurger



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Physical Therapy, Sugawara Koushi's Sister - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:36:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28706787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RutabagaBurger/pseuds/RutabagaBurger
Summary: Sugawara has a younger sister who goes to Shiratorizawa. Follow her as she befriends the team.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Pulling on her jacket, Kotomi looked at her mirror one more time. She has been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Her smile brightened up the room and she made her way to the kitchen to make a light breakfast for herself.

When she got there, her mom was waiting for her, a coffee in one hand and her phone in the other. Her nurse uniform on. She looked up at Kotomi and her face lit up. “Look at you! All dressed up in your Shiratorizawa uniform! You look very professional.” She started wiping away fake tears. “You’ve grown so much.”

Kotomi playfully rolled her eyes at her mother and then noticed the plate waiting for her; some rice and miso soup. Kotomi always did like food and could eat a lot if she was really hungry.

In just a few minutes, Kotomi was finished and ready to head out. She went back to her room to grab her bag and her phone and double-checked the mirror one last time. The uniform looked okay on her. It matched her shoulder-length, silver hair pretty well.

Admittedly, she had to ask Koushi for help with the bow tie the night before, him only laughing for a few minutes before teaching her. Altogether, she looked pretty good, even with the bulky knee brace on her right leg.

She sighed and made her way to the bus stop, getting ready for the half-hour ride. She was excited to make new friends. Her thoughts drifted as Kotomi closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Kotomi’s eyes shot up as the bus came to a halt. When she looked up, it was hers and she scrambled to get off, thanking the driver as she went.

Her smile never left her face, but she was starting to feel a tad nervous. What if no one liked her? She wasn’t living on campus, so what if they didn’t want to get to know her because of it? She won’t know a single person here.

Her phone buzzed and she opened the message.

From: EatsALot  
Don’t get lost.

Well, she did know one person.

Her nervousness dialed down once she read it and replied to her cousin, Semi Eita. She knew that was his way of checking in on her. She also knew he hated that nickname she gave him.

To: EatsALot  
Thanks!! You’re the best! :D

Kotomi knew Eita would roll his eyes at that. She knew he was supposed to be at practice, so she hoped they were on a small break. She didn’t want him to get in trouble, although she would laugh at him if he did.

She reached into her bag and grabbed her class schedule just to be sure that she was going to the right place. She took the earlier bus so that she had plenty of time to find her way around. She filed into her classroom, class 4, and took a seat near the middle.

Getting in on an academic scholarship meant that she was going to have to put in a lot of effort to keep her grades up. She wouldn’t say she’s the smartest, but she won’t deny she works hard to get the best grades possible.

She takes out her phone and scrolls through it until someone sits next to her. Kotomi looks up at the boy and struggles to not make fun of his hair. That’s rude, she reminds herself.

Besides his hair, she notices he’s pretty tall, and out of breath. He probably came from practice. She decides she was going to try and be friends with him. He looked nice enough,

She put on her winning smile and beamed at him. “Hi!”

Goshiki was a little startled to see someone talking to him, and then he realized it was a girl talking to him. He blinked. “Uh, hello.” Her smile was blinding him and he felt like he could trust her with any secret he had.

“I’m Sugawara Kotomi! Nice to meet you.” Goshiki’s cheeks reddened and he had to look away from her.

“My name’s Go-'' He cleared his throat. “Goshiki Tsutomu.” How do you talk to girls? He needs to know right now.

Kotomi smiled even brighter if that was possible. He was doomed. “Did you come from practice?”

Goshiki’s eyes lit up. He may not know how to talk to girls, but he knew how to talk about volleyball. He started to ramble on about the sport he loved and he almost forgot who he was talking to until he heard a small laugh next to him.

He swore he heard angels sing. They both looked towards the front, where the teacher just walked into the room, and Kotomi turned to him once more. “Do you want to sit with me at lunch?” Goshiki was stunned. Not only did he (maybe?) make a friend, she wanted to sit with him at lunch. He nodded, probably a little too violently, and they both turned to focus on class.

The bell rang and the class started getting their things together, making their way to the lunch hall. Goshiki waited on Kotomi, who was getting her wallet from her wallet. As soon as they left the room, Semi Eita made his way towards them. Goshiki got nervous, wondering what his upperclassman wanted with him.

Semi looked mad and annoyed during practices, so Goshiki made a point of avoiding him out of fear. And now he was heading straight for them.

While he was panicking, Kotomi only looked happy. Eita looked at her and then at Goshiki. “Goshiki, most of the team sit together at lunch if you would like to join.” Eita’s glare hardened when Goshiki looked at Kotomi.

Semi wouldn’t admit it, but he was almost as protective of his cousin as her brother was. He would rather die than admit he cares, but Kotomi and Koushi knew.

Semi was about to open his mouth again to talk to Kotomi, but Goshiki cut him off before he could.

“Could Sugawara-San join us?” Semi watched Kotomi wrinkle her nose.

“You can just call me Kotomi.” Semi always thought it was funny how she didn’t like being called the same thing as Koushi and hid his smirk at her with a cough.

“Sure. I don’t care. I don’t know about the rest of the team though.” And then he walked away.

Kotomi looked after him and began to laugh. So he wanted to play cool, did he? He could pretend he wasn’t checking on his favorite (yes favorite, she fought for that title) cousin all he wants, Kotomi knew the truth. And she wasn’t going to let him forget it.

Goshiki seemed like he was still panicking. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know they wanted me to sit with them! And I should’ve asked you before I asked for you to sit with the team as well. I’m so sorry!”

Kotomi reached up and ruffled his hair, and Goshiki was too shocked to panic at the moment. She may not be as good as her mom or her brother, but she was pretty good at calming people down. “Don’t worry, Goshiki! I don’t mind, really. I think it’ll be fun. Come on, we’re already running late.”

She started walking, Goshiki catching up quickly. It wasn’t too hard for him with his long legs. But it was probably also easier seeing as Kotomi was a head or two shorter than him and had a slight limp.

When they finally made it to the hall, the place was full of students. They waited in line for their food and Goshiki found the table they needed while Kotomi finished paying.

Kotomi could feel the waves of nervous excitement rolling off her new friend as they made their way over. The first person to spot her was Eita, and she smiled, seeing two spots next to him open, and sat down right next to him.

Goshiki was startled and impressed by her bravery. He was too scared to sit next to him, and she had done it, no hesitation. Once he got over his awe over her, he noticed that a few people at the table were looking at her in confusion.

Kotomi was about to take a bite of some rice when she looked up and met eyes with a guy with very bushy eyebrows. He was gaping at her until she looked at him and he cleared his throat.

“Um, this table is usually only for the volleyball team.” Jin was not prepared for her smile. Most people aren’t. She looked innocent of all crimes.

“I’m sorry, Goshiki and I were going to sit together and he said I could sit here with you guys. I can go if you want.” She bats her eyes a little and Jin hesitated. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t let her sit here. But now he felt bad.

Before anyone else could pipe in, a lanky redhead leaned forward and looked at her. “What’s your name?”

Kotomi turned to him. “I’m Sugawara Kotomi, but you can just call me Kotomi. What’s yours?” Her politeness was making Jin feel even worse. Semi knew she was a little devil and hasn’t been persuaded by that smile since he was ten (that he’ll admit). He knew better. After dealing with the Sugawara siblings his whole life, he knew you couldn’t trust their smiles, no matter how innocent it looked. And almost every single person at this table is falling for it.

The lanky boy turned his head so it was crooked. He was probably trying to look intimidating, but Kotomi thought he looked ridiculous. “Tendou. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He went for a creepy smile. Once again, ridiculous. She brightened her smile and then started eating.

Jin gave up on trying to make her leave and went back to his own food. Kotomi took out her phone, putting it under the table, so she wasn’t completely rude. She pulled up her messages.

To: EatsALot  
Was he trying to look mean? He looked ridiculous.

She put her phone back away and pretended like nothing. She saw Eita reach for his phone in her peripheral when it buzzed and then she heard him laugh, and then choke on his lunch as he read what she sent.

The table looked over at Eita, startled. Eyes were on Semi as Kotomi tried not to laugh at him and shoveled some food in her mouth. Once she swallowed, she turned and looked at Eita. A look of concern on her face. “Are you alright?”

He leveled her with a glare. He could see the amusement in her eyes. Goshiki tugged on her sleeve a little bit, in fear for his new friend. He didn’t want to make a new friend and then immediately have to go to her funeral.

Despite his best efforts, Kotomi didn’t get the hint. “No really, do you need some water?” Goshiki was saying his goodbyes. Semi would kill her, and then him. He just knew it.

Then she turned back to her lunch, an amused smile on her face. And Semi went back to his lunch, after texting somebody on his phone.

And everyone looked on with shock. What just happened?

Kotomi let her bag drop on the ground before dropping herself onto her bed. She had a few homework assignments, but those could wait an hour. Until then, she would take a nap.

She undid the velcro to her knee brace and slipped it off. It’s been a while since she did so much activity outside of physical therapy, but her knee held up pretty well. She only had a little more pain than the usual amount, but that was to be expected.

She wasn’t going to let it stop her.

Kotomi woke up from her nap, grabbed a snack, and then started her work. A few hours later, she was putting her book away when the door opened.

Koushi made his way to his own room before coming to see Kotomi in hers. He looked happy, so Kotomi concluded that he had a good day.

“Hey Kotomi, how was your first day? Make any friends?” Kotomi couldn’t help but snort at him.

“Oniichan, you sound like mama.” They both made their way to the kitchen, with Kotomi sitting at the table and Koushi preparing to start dinner.

Their mom was a nurse, so she tended to be out until late at night a lot.

And with dinner on its way, the siblings began telling each other about their days.

“Did Eita be nice and talk to you?” Kotomi got out the plates while Koushi finished up cooking.

“Yeah, he even let me sit with him at lunch with my friend.” Koushi hummed in reply. When they were sitting, Koushi told Kotomi all about his volleyball practice and she listened intently.

It was a good day.


	2. Cousins?

Goshiki walked into the classroom to find Kotomi dead asleep on her desk. Making his way over to his desk, he takes a peek at Kotomi. 

In the past week, he and Kotomi have gotten close. He felt lucky to have her as a friend. He was also lucky that the rest of the volleyball team let her sit with them every day at lunch. Although he couldn’t figure out why Semi kept glaring at him when the two were together. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Two nights ago a few of them were sitting in the student lounge in their dorms. They were all studying or doing homework, well, they were, until Tendou leaned over the arm of his chair. 

“So, Goshiki-Kun, what’s up with that friend of yours? You’re always spending time with her.” When Goshiki looked over at him, he found Tendou wiggling his eyebrows.  _ How does he do that? _

“I don’t know what you mean?” Goshiki was trying to figure out what Tendou was getting at. Did the team not like her? Did they want him to stop inviting her to sit with them?

Tendou bounced in his seat a little, shifting so he was more comfortable. “I’m sure you don’t Goshiki-Kun. I’m just telling you what I noticed. I mean, I couldn’t blame you if you like her either.” Tendou was trying to see how Goshiki would react. The two of them seemed like they knew each other for years, so he wanted to be nosy. 

Tendou could see a few others listening in, pretending like they’re not eavesdropping. Tendou went back to studying Goshiki’s face, and when he noticed that it had a red tint starting to form, he smirked. Goshiki opened his mouth, probably to defend himself, when another voice cut in.

“Aren’t we supposed to be studying? Get back to work.” Tendou looked over at Semi, who looked more agitated than usual.  _ That’s strange. _ Tendou decided to play nice for once and went back to looking at his textbook while raising his hands in surrender. Goshiki quickly buried himself in his assignment.

Which brought Goshiki to where he was now. Accidentally watching Kotomi sleep. His ears started burning with the realization and he brought a hand up to shake her awake so she wouldn’t get in trouble when the teacher arrived.

She mumbled something and then moved until she was sitting up, blinking slowly at Goshiki. Once she recognized where she was, she gave Goshiki a small smile. “How was practice?” Goshiki felt his ears burn a little more.

“Uh- It, um, was good.” He cleared his throat. “We did a lot of receiving. I thought my arms were going to fall off!” 

Kotomi nodded along, eyes sparkling. Goshiki liked telling her about volleyball. It was easy to talk about the sport with her. “It’ll be worth it though. I’m going to be the ace one day.” 

Kotomi beamed at him. “You must be really good then.” Kotomi was notorious for encouraging people. While she did tend to have her fun, she cared more about how others felt.

Goshiki’s eyes looked like they had stars in them and he was about to ramble about being the ace at his old school, when the teacher entered the room, effectively cutting him off.

He’ll just tell her on their way to lunch.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After Goshiki started bringing his friend to their lunch table, they’ve all taken an interest in her. Some of them, like Shirabu, would deny that he wouldn’t mind being her friend as well. He would not admit that. 

But that doesn’t stop anyone from talking to her or wondering about her. One thing, in particular, was the knee brace on her knee. No one knew why she wore it, but once or twice, they’ll catch her walking with a limp. Not that they’re watching her or waving at her in the hall if she waves first. 

Kotomi and Goshiki sat down in their usual spot, which was with Goshiki sitting across from him, which he could do without, and Kotomi next to Semi. After a few minutes, Shirabu finally decided to ask. “Kotomi-San?”

She looked up at him, head cocked to the side. “Why do you wear a knee brace?”

Kotomi felt her face drop for a second before she was able to lift it into a soft smile again. Shirabu, after seeing her look sad, wanted to take back what he said.

He was a second away from apologizing, not even caring that someone would tease him about it when Kotomi spared him. 

“It’s alright. It’s nothing, really. I tore my ACL and I had to have surgery. I’m still in physical therapy and they basically demanded I wear the stupid thing all day.” She gave an eye-roll at that and then looked back at Shirabu, hoping her face was reassuring enough, and she felt Eita lightly touch their legs together. 

A few people cringed at the idea of the injury, knowing that was a nasty injury, it could be career-ending. Then, acting as if nothing happened, she sat up straight and resumed a conversation with Goshiki. 

When her head is turned, Semi notices a piece of chicken on her dish that has been tempting him this whole time. Usually, when the cousins are together, they steal food off each other’s plates all the time.

So before she turned back, he quickly snatched the piece and put it in his mouth. Jin, Shirabu, and Tendou had watched him take it, and the first two looked at him with slack jaws as if they couldn’t believe he had just done that. Tendou looked on with amusement.

And then Kotomi turned back to her food. And years of habit had her counting how many pieces of chicken there were on her plate. And years of habit had her knowing exactly who took it.

All conversation at the table halted as Kotomi, five-foot-tall Kotomi, whacked Semi on the arm. Everyone knew Semi tended to have some temper-issues so they all (excluding Tendou) try not to rile him up too much. And then this girl just hits him. They were all doomed.

Kotomi’s face was stern as she began berating him. “Semi EatsALot! How dare you! I am unfriending you, blocking you, and you’re no longer allowed over at my house. That was MY piece of chicken! I thought you’re Okaasan raised you better than this. I’m suing you.”

Everyone gaped.

What. Was. That.

They had turned their attention to Semi in the middle of her rant only to find him smirking.

“What, I was just making it even for the sushi roll you stole from me.” Semi was... gloating?

Kotomi huffed and went back to picking at her food, grumbling. Goshiki knew he wasn’t the only one missing something. Although the only one brave enough to say something was Tendou.

“Did you just call him Semi EatsALot?” Semi’s face dropped as Kotomi’s brightened.

“Yes, I did! I came up with it when I was seven. Pretty clever, huh?” Tendou looked way too pleased to have this information. And quite frankly, Kotomi looked way too pleased to give it to him.

“Oh, it’s perfect.” Semi pinned him down with a glare, which Tendou matched with a winning smile.

The next person to speak was Goshiki. “You two know each other?”

Kotomi snorted while Semi rolled his eyes. “I guess you could say that.”

Kotomi elbowed him “lightly”. He wasn’t going to be the one to tell her they weren’t, because that would mean admitting they hurt. 

“He’s my cousin.”

The team gaped at the two of them. How could they be related? Sure, they looked kind of similar but Kotomi was happy and bubbly, and Semi was… not.

“I can see it.” Everyone looked to where Ushijima was passively eating his lunch. His face didn’t change from its usually stoic features, which makes this whole thing even more ridiculous.

Kotomi thought this whole thing was hilarious. She couldn’t wait to tell Koushi about it later tonight.

Everyone slowly made their way back to eating. Goshiki was a little quieter once everything returned to normal. He had a lot to learn about his new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe thanks for reading!


	3. A Walk Down The Block

Kotomi heard her feet hit the pavement under her feet in a steady rhythm. She can feel the sweat on the back of her neck as she levels her breathing. She knows she’s not supposed to be running yet with her injury, but she needed to do something with her excess energy. Usually, she would practice, but now that she can’t she has to find other methods.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so she informed Koushi that she was going on a short walk. Her physical therapist said walks were okay. Koushi had looked a little skeptical and told her to be careful. She’ll deal with his lecture later.

What started as a light jog, ended up being a run on her usual path, which was five miles.

Whoops.

She had her earbuds in and was looking around at the shops around her. This route was ingrained into her brain, which is probably why she wasn’t paying as much attention as she should have been.

And that’s how she ran right into someone, sending them both crumbling on the ground. Kotomi blinked her eyes in surprise before she registered what happened.

Including the pain in her now scraped elbow.

One of her earbuds had fallen out which resulted in her hearing a groan of pain from the other person. That sprung her into action.

She was on her feet in an instant and bent over in a low bow. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going! Sorry!”

Kotomi waited for the other person to respond. She was feeling a little nervous about their lack of comment. And then the other person laughed.  _ Laughed. _

Her body stiffened. Wait a second. She knew that laugh. She stood up straight and turned her now annoyed face at the guy still on the ground in front of her.

“Tooru?” She practically hissed at him.

Oikawa Tooru only gave her his best grin and lifted a hand to her. “What? Not even going to help me up? I think you crippled me!”

Kotomi swatted his hand away. “Don’t be a baby. I’m sure you’re fine.” 

Oikawa’s face dropped into a dramatic pout. “I’m not being a baby!” He got to his feet, no thanks to Kotomi, he’d like to point out. “Besides, I wouldn’t be so mean to someone who caught you running. Saito-Senpai won’t be too thrilled to hear about this.”

Saito-Senpai was their physical therapist, which is where the two met in the first place. They had similar injuries, resulting in similar recovery paths. Saito-Senpai was caring but really strict. So there was no surprise when her mind blanked and she was about to beg Tooru not to say anything when a different thought came to her.

A smirk of her own crossed her face and she crossed her arms. “And what were you doing, Tooru? You weren’t running as well, were you?” 

While his smile didn’t leave his face, Kotomi saw his eyes shift.  _ Ha. _ She won.

“Ok, neither of us brings this up, deal?” He held out his pinky to her, waiting for her to wrap her own around his. Which she did a second later.

“You got yourself a deal, Oinkawa,” Oikawa’s mouth dropped and he looked absolutely undignified as he tried to counter.

He ended up huffing and turning his head away. “Mean.” Kotomi snorted and pat Oikawa’s arm.

They continued to talk for a few more minutes before they both decided to finish their own routes, promising each other to take it easy.

Once Kotomi started back into her rhythm, she noticed an ache start in her knee. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. She’ll walk the rest of the way just to be safe.

This also gives her a way to avoid Koushi’s lecture for a few extra minutes. Too bad she wasn’t very far away from her house.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Kotomi saw the silver-haired boy waiting for her at the front door as she turned the corner of her block.

Good thing she wasn’t still jogging. Maybe she should’ve wiped the sweat off to hide the evidence.

She put on a bright smile, glad her knee was still just a dull ache so she could ignore it for a little while longer. 

Koushi stepped forward when he saw her approach, arms crossed and scowl set in place. “Where have you been? Were you running? You know you can’t do that yet!”

Kotomi kept her smile on her face, although it looked a little more apologetic now.

“I’m sorry Oniichan. I was taking a walk and I lost track of time!”

Kotomi was hoping he would believe her story. They made their way inside.

He did not. “You expect me to believe that? I know you, Tomi, I know you were running.” He looked down at her arm. "And what happened to your elbow? You're bleeding!"

Fine. Kotomi will go with plan B. She dropped her smile into a small frown and her eyes started watering. “Oniichan, I’m so sorry! I’ve been getting worked up and sad trying to figure out what to do. They only let us do so much in physical therapy and I’ve had energy just piling up that I  _ needed _ to get rid of. I didn’t know how else to do it. I thought maybe a light jog would help. I tripped, no big deal. And my elbow only hurts a little bit.” 

A few tears had escaped her eyes during that and she sniffed. Koushi still eyed her, resolve still holding strong, although she saw it starting to crack.

And then he sighed. “Alright, I believe you. Although, I’m not falling for your teary-eyed routine. I’m immune to it, you know.” Kotomi nodded her head as she rubbed her nose with her sleeve.

Koushi looked away. “No, seriously, stop that. Why don’t we bounce the ball back and forth? We can do that without you moving around.” 

Kotomi let her facade drop. She beamed at Koushi, who looked at her with irritation. After all these years, she was still good at getting what she wanted with that act. 

Kotomi knew this too, which is why she did it. It took Koushi many years to not fall for it, and Eita a few more. And while Kotomi knew what she had said was completely true, adding a tear or two was always a safe bet.

They moved to their backyard and Koushi picked up a volleyball off the ground. “How is your knee, I didn’t ask.”

He bumped the ball a few times to himself before sending it Kotomi’s way. Even though she wanted to move around and try to trick the other like they usually do, she knows Koushi won’t let that happen. Or her knee for that matter.

“It’s good. Maybe a little achy, but I’ll just take some pain meds and it should be good.” Koushi nodded his head, although he didn’t seem too thrilled about the admission. At least she was being honest with him. Kind of.

They bounced the ball back and forth, transitioning from receiving to setting every once in a while just to mix things up. She always enjoyed playing with Koushi, and Eita for that matter. They dragged her into playing with them whenever they were together. 

And Kotomi loved playing with them. She hopes Eita can come over soon so they can all play together again. She’ll have to bug Eita about it sometime this week at school.

After a half-hour or so, the two siblings heard the back door open. Kotomi caught the ball when it came to her, and they turned to their mom, bright smiles on all of their faces.

“Why don’t you guys come in and get cleaned up, I’ll start on dinner.” Kotomi rushed in after Koushi. Usually, they raced in, but they can’t quite do that anymore.

Once they washed up, they waited in the living room, sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels on the tv, until they found a movie playing. They watched, joking about what was happening until their mom called saying dinner was ready. 

Kotomi was glad she decided to stay at home instead of boarding at Shiratorizawa. She would’ve missed nights like this had she gone.

She wouldn’t miss this for the world.


	4. Woops

As it turns out, overworking her knee was a bad idea. Maybe she should’ve listened to her physical therapist. And Koushi. And her mom. And Eita. And Tooru.

Huh.

Kotomi had taken pain meds last night, but her knee wasn’t bothering her before she left her house, so she didn’t take any that morning.

She was really regretting that decision, and she wasn’t even at the school yet. It isn’t terrible, yet, but it’s definitely being a hindrance. Kotomi lets out a huff of air.

The bus rolled to a stop and Kotomi carefully made her way off. She looked up at the school building in front of her, taking in how big it is. Today was not her day. 

Making her way to her classroom was a slow process, one with too many stairs. By the time she sat down in her seat, she only had a few minutes before Goshiki dropped into his own.

“Hey, Kotomi. Practice was super hard today!”

Kotomi put on her best smile and looked at the boy. “What did you guys do today?” Goshiki didn’t notice her smile was fake, which meant that she’ll probably get by for the day. Unless Eita’s being observant.

Kotomi slipped back into reality, where Goshiki was still telling her every detail he could think of. Sometimes, he gets so in-depth with explaining practice, Kotomi feels like she was there.

While class dragged on, Kotomi could feel her knee growing in pain and she mentally cursed herself for not taking her meds. Getting to lunch was going to be a struggle.

Speaking of lunch, the bell rang, and their classmates started making their way to the door. Kotomi slowly stood with all her weight on her left leg before setting her right leg down. She took a few steps towards the door. Goshiki was busy grabbing his phone, but he looked up right as Kotomi’s knee gave out.

“Kotomi!?” He knelt down next to her, but she brushed him off standing up on her own. She let out a pained laugh and bent her knee a few times.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. It just gave out on me. It does that sometimes, it’s fine. Now let’s go before the line gets too long.” She slowly started walking, making sure her knee wasn’t going to give out on her again and then deciding that it was good and going at a relatively normal speed.

Goshiki looked apprehensively at her trying to figure out what he should do but decided on just following after her. If she falls again, he’ll make sure to catch her.

When they arrived at the staircase, Kotomi groaned, leaning her head back, eyes closed.

“Do you want me to carry you down?” Goshiki’s eyes went wide at his own words, and Kotomi’s snapped to him.

“No, I can do it.” Her cheeks were turning pink, which matched Goshiki’s dark red face. He can’t believe he just said that.

While he calmed himself down, he glanced at Kotomi, who was currently going down one stair at a time, clutching on to the railing.

They finally made their way into the lunch hall. The line was already shrinking, so they got there late enough to be last. At least they made it.

Once they got through the line and sat at their table, Kotomi let out a breath. Semi side-eyed her, trying to figure out what was up. As if feeling his gaze, Kotomi turned her head at him with a glare. Semi quirked an eyebrow at her before she mumbled something and played with her food a bit. Some of the guys at the table were taking small glances at her in between the conversations they were having.

Goshiki looked a tad nervous and kept looking at Kotomi before looking down. Tendou picked up on this, naturally. He set his arms on the table and gave a short hum. “And what seems to be the issue with you two, hm? Did something happen? Something, let's say, embarrassing?” Tendou’s grin grew as Goshiki’s face gained some color.

Goshiki took in a breath like he was going to say something when Kotomi elbowed him in the ribs, and he lost whatever breath he just got. Semi cringed. He knew how that felt.

“Nothing happened,  _ right, _ Goshiki?” She had a grin on her face. Semi didn’t have to look at her to know she had her devil face on. But now he was curious, what  _ did _ happen and what did it have to do with Goshiki?

Goshiki apparently wasn’t looking at her either, or he was too oblivious to notice because he continued. “It was nothing bad, her knee just gave out.” Semi’s head whipped to her so fast he heard it pop.

Kotomi stabbed her food before sighing and looking at her cousin. “It’s nothing bad, it’s just bugging me a little. That’s all.”

Kotomi shifted her eyes back down to her food, but not before sending a glare to Tendou. This was all his fault anyway.

“So if I text Koushi, he’ll tell me that you didn’t do anything stupid to mess it up over the weekend?” Her body froze as he pulled at his phone. He shook it in front of himself a few times, just enough to snap Kotomi out of her frozen state and try to snatch the phone from his hands. Which she missed as he pulled away.

“Oh, so you did do something stupid?”

Kotomi’s lip jutted out and she gave her best pout. Jin needs to stop sitting in front of her, all her facial expressions are giving him whiplash. 

“Who’s Koushi?” Yamagata asked, but he was promptly ignored.

“I didn’t do anything stupid.” By Semi’s face, Kotomi knew he didn’t believe her. “Ok, I  _ may _ have overworked it a little bit but it’s fine.”

She turned and stuffed her face with food. Semi’s critical eye never left her.

In the lull of conversation, Yamagata tried again. “Who’s Koushi?” Why does he even care?

“If it’s worse then you’re letting on, your mom said that you were supposed to wait with me until she could pick you up after work.”

Kotomi swallowed her food. “I know. But it’s not that bad.”

“Who’s Koushi?” Yamagata doesn’t even know why he’’s trying again at this point.

“Oh, he’s my brother. Acts like my mom though.” Semi cracked a smile.

The lunch period continued on as normal as it usually gets. When they were parting ways, Semi was watching her walk, trying to find anything extremely wrong. Kotomi put her hands on her hips. “It’s not that bad. It’s fine. Stop worrying about it.” 

Kotomi was going to continue saying that until it was true.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It was very much not true. 

The final bell rang, but Kotomi hasn’t stood up yet. Goshiki was ready to head to practice when he turned to her, noticing she was still sitting. His face contorted into one of confusion. “Kotomi?”

The girl in question sighed and looked at him. Her knee was bad. She really wished she had her pain meds. 

Goshiki was still looking at her trying to figure out what to do. Sighing again, she took out her phone and texted Eita. She groaned and laid her head on the desk. 

Goshiki came back and awkwardly stood by her trying to figure out what was wrong. Semi walked through the door not even a minute later.

“I knew it.”

Goshiki was very surprised as Kotomi raised her middle finger at him. Goshiki was also surprised when Semi only cackled. 

Semi stood in front of her now. “I already texted your mom and Koushi. Come on, let’s go. I’ll give you a ride.” Goshiki’s eyebrows knit together. Semi did know they had practice, right? He couldn’t give Kotomi a ride anywhere and still make it to practice in time.

And then, to Goshiki’s even greater surprise, he learned that ride meant a piggyback ride. The two of them were trying to figure out how to hold their bags when Goshiki offered to carry them. After some contemplation, the two cousins decided that it was probably easier that way and handed off their bags. Goshiki was now trying to figure out why Semi’s bag was heavier than his and Kotomi’s combined. What did he put in here?

A flight of stairs and a walk across campus later, the three found their way to the gym the volleyball practice in.

Semi had Goshiki go to the club room to change, leading him to hand off Kotomi’s bag, resulting in her holding it awkwardly. Semi walked them into the gym and made his way to where the coaches were. Some of the members were looking at them in confusion, trying to figure out why she was there. The coaches narrowed their eyes trying to figure it out themselves.

Kotomi was nervous. She’s heard Semi’s tales about them and she was terrified. Semi was most likely overexaggerating his complaints, but that doesn’t matter now. Right now, they were looking at her critically and Kotomi thought she was going to die.

When they got in front of them, Kotomi wiggled until Semi set her down and she moved so she was standing next to him. Semi was the first to speak. “Washijo-Senpai, this is my cousin Sugawara Kotomi. Her knee is acting up and she isn’t able to make it home like she usually does. Is it alright if she stays here until her mom can pick her up?”

Kotomi was starting to get fidgety. A lot of people in the gym were giving them quizzical looks and the coaches seemed to be having a silent conversation about it.

Finally, the older coach, Washijo-Senpai, looked towards Kotomi. “I don’t see why not. You can sit on the bench next to me as long as you don’t distract the team or get in the way.”

Kind of harsh, but Kotomi was expecting him to not let her stay at all, so. She put on her best smile and then bowed. “Thank you.”

He gave a grunt so Kotomi took that as her cue to straighten herself and make her way to the bench. Goshiki walked into the gym at that moment and they made eye contact. She gave him a thumbs-up, and he gave on in turn. She took out her math assignment and began working through it, glancing up every few problems to see what the team was doing.

Kotomi was working on her next assignment when the younger coach turned to the older one. “I don’t understand why it keeps hitting the net. His serve is fine, I can’t figure it out.”

Kotomi looked up and tried to find which member he was referring to. She sees a boy that doesn’t sit at the table at lunch with them. He threw the ball in the air and took a running start and hit the ball. It was a good serve, and yet, it hit the net. The boy looked frustrated. Kotomi tilted her head trying to analyze his serve, trying to find something that needed fixing.

A smile made its way on her face as she got an idea. She cleared her throat to get the coaches' attention and gave them a blinding smile. “I’m sorry for intruding, but if he snapped his arm more when he swung instead of following all the way through, I think it would work.”

The coaches both stared at her. They turned back to the player and watched him serve again. When he was setting back up to try again, the younger coach called out to him, suggesting the idea Kotomi gave. The boy nodded in understanding and took a breath.

When he hit it, it made it over the net. Kotomi turned back to her history assignment with a grin on her face. She was about to write down an answer when a voice startled her. “How did you know that?”

Kotomi turned back to the coaches. She couldn’t figure out if he had sounded accusing or just curious. A polite smile was on her face and she shrugged. “I used to play. It was more of a hypothesis than anything.”

She returned to her homework before they could say anything else. A few minutes later, Kotomi got a text from her mom saying she was there and parked right outside the main gates. She packed up her things, gave another bow to the coaches, gave a wave goodbye to Semi and another to Goshiki when he saw her leaving, then turned to leave. It still hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier. 

Kotomi finally made it to her mom’s car and they began the journey home. Kotomi excitedly told her about her day, and reluctantly told her about the pain in her knee. While Kotomi didn’t like letting others know when she was in pain, she made a promise to her mom that she wouldn’t lie to her about it. 

They made it back home and Kotomi hobbled in. Koushi was already there, dinner ready. “Oh good, I’m starving.” Koushi rolled his eyes at his sister.

Koushi told them about his day and how chaotic some of the new first years are. He always manages to have a new story every day about his team.

After dinner, Kotoki took her pain meds with a glass of water then sat down on the couch as their mom put in a movie.

They joked through the whole thing, and their mom fell asleep halfway through. Kotomi following her lead, until Koushi scared her awake with a shove.

“You’re not funny,” she whispered at him, but the grin on her face gave her away. She shoved him back and then pulled the cover she had draped over her through the movie closer.

Kotomi decided that today wasn’t so bad.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! I know this is bad lol but I decided to write this fic in hopes of improving my writing. Don't be afraid to critique or leave suggestions for future chapters!


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